Watch: The Vinyl Records release new music video 'Authority'

Sep 01, 01:43pm

For those who haven't heard this noisy Indian punk goodness yet, The Vinyl Records are a four member 'post-punk' band from the north-east of India, now based in Delhi. The band was formed in 2010, when Banu Jini (lead guitar), Minam Tekseng (bass guitar) and Mithy Tathak (drums), all from Arunachal Pradesh were joined by vocalist Cheyyrian Bark from Assam. They released their debut EP 'Whims' in 2013 and have been pretty active since, playing live around the country and have performed internationally as well. Today, they release their new video 'Authority'. Here's our chat with them about the video amongst other things. Scroll down to watch.

How does it feel to be releasing this video finally?

We're very excited, but also prepared for the backlash which usually follows new releases.

How have things changed for you guys since the days of MTV India’s F1 Rocks?

Well, to begin with we have more than three songs now and we've also toured a lot since then. We've definitely gained more experience.

You have been based in Delhi for a few years now. How has life been in this city?

Delhi is second home to us. This city has given us opportunities, which we would've never had back home.

How do you find the city in terms of opportunities for independent musicians?

It's not bad at all. We started out by playing at ‘Open Mic Night’ at The Living Room in Hauz Khas Village.

“Feminism is a very important part of the band's ideology. It is very relevant and necessary in a country like ours. It will most likely be a recurring theme in our future releases too.”

- The Vinyl Records

Tell us a bit about the subject matter of your new video ‘Authority’.

It's a battle cry against the injustices and stereotypes faced by women across the world. We are feminists and we are inspired by the Riot Grrrl ethos that amalgamates feminist consciousness and punk style. We believe that everybody should be a feminist, in simple terms - equality for both women and men.

(Riot Grrrl is an underground feminist punk movement that originated in the US around 1990s to establish gender balance in the punk music scene back then and to address issues of rape, domestic abuse, sexuality, racism, patriarchy, and female empowerment, amongst others.)

Your debut EP ‘Whims’ had themes of feminism and anarchy. How would you reflect on that music now in terms of personal growth and as musicians?

Feminism is a very important part of the band's ideology. It is very relevant and necessary in a country like ours. It will most likely be a recurring theme in our future releases too.

Will this video be followed by the release of an album?

Yes, the album is on its way - stay tuned.

Could you tell us a bit about the making of this video? How did you decide on the concept and visual language?

It was the band's idea to have a lyric video so we looked up archives online and found some interesting work from which we took inspiration and handed over the rest to Udit Mahar. Our intention was to properly convey the zest of our song through compiling pictures and gifs and also to make the video look visually interesting and substantial. Some pictures in the video are shot by Karan Singh (drummer for Peter Cat Recording Co.) and Mithy and some are contributions from girls around Delhi by asking them to send their pictures rebelling against patriarchy.

(Udit Mahar of Ocean Floor Films is the creator of this video.)

How was it working with Udit?

We heard of Udit from a colleague and really liked his work. Working with him got us feeling uplifted and inspired to do what we wanted to. Despite low budgets, he accepted this project because he appreciated our concept. Loads of thanks to him !

What kind of difficulties did you have making this video?

The main challenge was to find the right guy for the job - someone who could work on a low budget and make the video as we imagined and justify it. Thankfully, Udit liked our idea and agreed. It would have been very difficult otherwise, as it had already not worked out previously with two other people.

What expectations do you have from your audience’s response to this video, if any?

We hope the song connects with people and they like it.

How has your experience been playing live all these years? If possible, tell us a bit about your best live gigs.

It has been wild! The best experience has to be the three-city tour in Sweden.

Have your respective families watched this latest video? How did they like it?